LAKELAND, Fla.—If Major League Baseball wanted a playoff format to most fairly determine its champion, it would not expand the playoffs by adding two wild cards. It would expand the Division Series by two games, making each a best-of-7 format—like the LCS and the World Series—to reduce the crap-shoot factor.

But this playoff expansion is not about fairness. It is about creating more excitement for the fans, as the commissioner will tell you. Of course, it really is about money because generating more excitement for the fans will result in more revenue for Bud Selig's game, er, business.

But that's OK. There isn’t anything wrong with more excitement. And the new format will bring more excitement in at least three ways:

• The one-game, wild-card playoffs will be as intense as any single game in sports. Think of it this way: Each is a Game 7 without having to go through the first six games.

• Two more playoff spots will mean more teams in contention. Theoretically, anyway. More teams in contention keeps more fans interested deeper into the season.

• Winning the division becomes far more important since that will be the only way to avoid the one-game, wild-card playoff.

Purists are sure to howl about watering down the postseason and the unfairness of a one-game playoff, but most inside the game favor expansion. That includes Jim Leyland, the old-school manager of the Detroit Tigers.

"It's exciting. That's good for baseball," said Leyland, who understands the real driving force behind the expansion. "Let's face it. At the end of the day, the financial picture is part of it. We all have enough common sense to know that, so let's not act like that's not there. I don't think there's anything wrong with that with the payrolls and the money the owners are paying."

While Leyland opposes the one-game playoffs, he can offer no better solution. He understands the potential behind the TV ratings for a one-game playoff. He also sees the disadvantage that a best-of-3 wild-card round would create for division winners, who would be waiting around for a week to open the playoffs. And he also knows only so many games can be played in October. "I don't really like mid-November baseball," he says.

Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, who is even more old-school than Leyland, opposes the entire idea of expansion. "You shouldn't get nothing for second or third," he told reporters. "I'm not knocking baseball at all, but in my opinion I'd like to see the two . . . best teams in the World Series."